Insound.com brings us a free mp3 from Los Campesinos!' (hard to make that shit possesive) new album "Romance Is Boring" released Jan 26, 2010. Good song, great album. Enjoy!
The self titled full length debut from The Soft Pack (formally "The Muslims") was released earlier this month. I had heard their stuff before and was definitely looking forward to giving their 10 track LP a listen. Simplistic in its ways, but consitently upbeat and fun. Fast tempos make for a quick enjoyable listen. Surf rock inspired guitar riffs blend well with verby rythms. Singer/guitarist Matt Lamkin sounds somewhat emotionless on some tracks, but it works very well with their overall melodic yet punky sound. I detect a bit of Strokes influence on a number of tracks. Expect to hear a lot more from this foursome from San Diego in the near future.
You should sign up (free) for LaLa if you haven't already. Best site out there for streaming tunes!
Check out "C'Mon", "Answer to Yourself", & "Tides of Time".
Sunday night, House of Blues, Boston. Jam packed with what seemed to be only 16 - 21 year olds...plus 25 yr old me. Vans shoes, skinny jeans, and stupid swoop haircuts galore. However, I'm not here to rip apart the emo/pop punk sub-culture of today. I'm posting to provide my take on two bands in particular who are both responsible for contributing to the soundtrack of my youth (aka the good old days). Those bands of course being Saves The Day & New Found Glory.
Saves the Day played first. I was jacked up on the dieselest sized Red Bull (splash of vodka) and memories of blasting Can't Slow Down and Through Being Cool every day in high school. I previewed their setlist and it was legit so I knew this was going to be sick. They took the stage and I immediately had some issues. You see, STD has undergone numerous band member updates over the years, and with each restructure, I cringe a bit. This was the worst. There is now only one original member of Saves the Day remaining; singer/guitairst Chris Conley. I will hand it to the foursome though. They sounded great! If you closed your eyes you wouldn't be able to tell if you were listening to the new lineup or the original 5 piece from back in the day. However, they definitely could have been louder, and the crowd seemed to not give a shit about them. Everyone was just standing, emotionless. Clearly all there for the headliner; NFG. I was bummed out a bit. It just lacked the feel of originality and everything I love/loved about this band. I made the comment "it's like a Saves the Day cover band featuring Chris Conley. Anyhow, I'm glad I saw them. Excellent set list (great mix of old shit and new).
Make way for NFG. I have to admit. I reverted to 16 year old Steve for thier set. New Found Glory played their self titled album in its entirety from start to finish. So sick. This record was adolescent gold back in high school. Clearly I'm going to lose my cool and jump around like a moron with the youngsters. They sounded great. Loud, fast, energetic; everything that makes GOOD pop punk so fun. Plus the members of the band are actually older than I am so I didn't feel like that big a douche. Anyhow, I didn't care about all that when I was in the thick of it. No, the embarrassment set in much later on the train ride home, where I found myself surrounded by sweaty inarticulate teenagers (who were just as sweaty as I mind you).
So, overall it was a great show. Saves the Day = 6.8 and NFG = 9.0. Time machine shows are always good...so long as I can get over the whole "I'm an old dude who shouldn't be here" feeling they so inevitably emote.
I'm sitting here in my apartment listening to the Local Natives - Gorilla Manor. Sun Hands just played and completely caught me off guard. Now I'm hooked. (a few tracks later) I thought it shuffled on me to Fleet Foxes; nope just "Warning Sign".
I checked out Four Tet last night at the Middle East in Cambridge and it was actually a really great show. Picture a basement-like atmosphere packed with sweaty kids dancing, bobbing their heads, and pounding PBRs to some smooth, well crafted beats. So of course I've been playing his shit all day. Just thought I'd share this great album with fellow (good) music fans. Never thought I'd dig electronic stuff, but it's legit growing on me.
Choice tracks: "Love Cry", "Angel Echoes", "She Just Likes to Fight", "Circling" & "Sing"
So first of all...BEST album cover of the year, hands down. Second; a truly excellent album! Surfer Blood's debut "Astro Coast" came out this January and I finally got around to giving it a thorough listen. What I found was 10 tracks of upbeat, echoing, surf rock inspired by such legends as Pavement, Weezer, and the Pixies. Listening to this album stimulates your imagination. You can actually make out the sound of the ocean bubbling as you are pinned down by waves crashing overhead (see "Take It Easy"). Killer guitar riffs paired with warm fuzzed out melodies promote memories of sunny days driving with the windows down, careless, and free. These talented bunch of dudes hailing from Florida managed to create a fantastic album and certainly a contender for numerous "Best of 2010" lists.
So I just came across this band (thank you Sirius XMU) and I can't believe I've been missing out on JEFF the Brotherhood! These two dudes seriously get how to create a fuzzed out, punk influenced, grunge ride. To me they sound like surferier, Japandroids, or New Age and I can't help but think of Nirvana's Incesticide album when I hear their shit. In my opinion these guys wipe their asses with Wavves, HA! A few choice tracks below to illustrate my point.
"With three guitar strings and a minimal drum kit, they manage to distill rock to its primal essence." [Last.fm] --- SERIOUSLY?!
Dying for new shit from The Shins? Well, check out new FREE music from Broken Bells, aka James Mercer and Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton. Pretty excited for this track and the whole album, which is due out March 9th 2010. Sounds like: melodic mellow acoustic Shins, sprinkled with experimental tones and whirling wonder. Aka, just get it. it's good.
So am I the only one that thought The Who's half-time performance last night was really good? A lot of reviews I'm reading/hearing are extremely anti. However, it seems to be a generational thing. Older fans are making comments like "they're fossils" or "when I was a kid, The Who were actually sweet live" and "last night was just sad"...blah blah, shit like that. Well, I've had the chance to see The Who live at the Virgin Music Festival in Baltimore back in 2006, and it was phenomenal! Last night's performance reminded me of that experience, so maybe I was biased. Either way, I would like to think or at least hope that kids my age respected last night's performance; the way it sounded (tight) and the way it looked (enough f-ing lazers?!). I don't know. I was drunk, full, and stoked the Saints were only down 4 points at the half. Plus I absolutely love The Who. So even if the world disagrees, I still gave last night's show two very enthusiastic thumbs up!
::Setlist::
Pinball Wizard
Baba O'Riley
Who Are You
We're Not Gonna Take It!
Won't Get Fooled Again
I think this is what everyone was hoping to see last night --- Skip to 1:50.
Yeah Sirius is like $13 a month, but I have it, and I love it. Mainly for Stern, SiriusXMU, and random channel promo's such as this! All Who, all the time!!! If only we could scrobble our Sirius listenings...ohh well.
I started this blog in December 09 to essentially document my continuous exploration in music. My only intention is to share my adoration for music of all genres and hope that readers might discover something new that they will truly appreciate and enjoy.
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